The 8th Avenger
by StarWarsNerdGirl
Summary: Kristen Metz is a superpowered employee of Stark International. When she shows up on the Avenger's doorstep, a decision must be made. These are the tales of a new superhero: MEDIC.  Third Story! XD


_**REVISED! **_

_**THANKS TO guiltygear FOR THE REVIEW AND IDEAS…LIKE I SAID, I REALLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE AVENGERS, BUT AM ALWAYS THANKFUL FOR FEEDBACK!**_

_**Okay, I know very little about the Avengers, so please please please do not be mad if I really mess up the characters or something like that. Sigh. Anyways, enjoy! **_

_**NOTE: I AM WORKING ON MY OTHER STORIES RIGHT NOW, SO THIS STORY IS "COMPLETE" UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! **_

Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man sat up straight in his assigned chair at Avengers Headquarters. The normal news broadcast was being blocked by the hulking figure of Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, who stared down at the billionaire with emotionless eyes. Steve grinned. Tony groaned as he sensed what was coming. Steve cleared his throat casually and began to speak.

"Want to spar, Tony? You look like some kind of distorted vegetable, sitting there watching Molly Sue and all the rest of them make light of the world's troubles," he said with a grin. Tony sighed and stood reluctantly, stretching inside his armor. At that moment, Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. The Black Widow and Susan Storm a.k.a. The Invisible Woman walked in, apparently in the middle of a heated argument.

"I don't care how talented she may be, Natasha! What were you like at that age? Huh? Certainly not mature enough to handle such responsibility…" Susan shouted at Natasha's back. Natasha whipped around and stalked up right in the other woman's face.

"Who says? You? Last I checked, the Avengers are a _team,_ and we have these things called _team votes_. Ever heard of them?"

It was obvious that Susan was trying to handle the situation with her usual calm maturity, but Natasha was really pushing her.

"Of course I have, Natasha. Don't be ridiculous. It's just that-"

"Susan."

Susan whirled around to face Steve, who looked at her with concern.

"What's going on?"

Susan Storm sighed and let her shoulders relax, then turned to look at Natasha.

"You tell them." She murmured.

"My pleasure." Natasha nodded, then turned toward the boys of the group, who had conveniently gathered in one central area.

"While snooping around for trouble last night, I ran into – literally – a superpowered girl. Some guy had been shot, and his wife was screaming for an ambulance. This girl, she flew right up to the 5th floor window. I followed her, of course. When I got up there, she was kneeling next to the guy, eyes closed, in some sort of trance or something. He suddenly sat bolt upright, wounds healed, and I helped him call the police. I then tracked the girl to a high-end apartment complex downtown and paid her a visit. She said her name was Kristen Metz, that's with a "K" boys, and she thinks she inherited her powers from some distant relative. She's 19, lives by herself, has a job at Stark International, and would be an invaluable addition to the Avengers."

Tony Stark nodded slowly. "I think I know the one. She's about five-foot-ten, auburn hair, green eyes, pale complexion... smart kid. Really smart. Had some really great ideas for my armor upgrades," he added.

Natasha, eager to get on with her story, nodded briskly and continued. "_Anyways,_ I brought her in today to discuss business – as in, the idea of being an Avenger."

Susan picked it up from there. "I saw her in the conference room with Natasha and exploded. The poor girl is probably still sitting there now, wondering where we are and what just happened to her."

"Not really."

The group all turned to the doorway, where Kristen Metz was leaning against one wall, looking quite bored. She now strode confidently over to the group, undaunted. She placed one hand on her hip and used the other to gesture with as she talked.

"As you already know, my name is Kristen Metz. Natasha pretty much summed me up, but she didn't really tell you what my giftings are." She enumerated these points on her fingers. "One: I can fly past Mach I, should I so choose. Two: I can heal any injury or condition, whether internal or external. Three: I can use that same power to cause internal problems for my opponent, as whatever pain I take away from someone, can be inflicted on someone, or something, else. I also have many weapons prototypes in the making. A hobby of sorts. I am willing to work with all of you and submit to your experience and authority, if you'll have me."

The Avengers stood in silence.

Steve finally stood and shook Kristen's hand.

"We will have to discuss this privately."

"Of course."

"How about if you return home for now, and we call you when we reach a decision?"

Kristen nodded, smiling, pleased that they were taking her so seriously. She spoke around Captain America's bicep to Natasha.

"You have all my contact info, right Natasha?"

Natasha nodded, waving goodbye.

With a nod and a trademark three-fingered wave, Kristen took her leave.

As the doors closed shut behind her, Richard Rider a.k.a. Nova let out a long breath that accidentally-on-purpose came out as a shrill whistle.

Susan stalked over to Tony, folding her arms.

"What I want to know is how you hired her, obviously without knowing the first thing about her, who she was, and where she came from."

Tony smiled and stood stretching.

"C'mon, Sue, (He knew she hated it when he called her that) you know that I let my secretaries do the actual hiring."

Susan cocked an eyebrow, suspecting that there was more to the story than Tony was telling her. Tony raised his hands in mock innocence.

"The only reason I remembered her was because she was different. For one thing, she got her PhD in engineering when she was 18. For another, she brought _weapons prototypes _to her interview_._ She certainly knew how to impress-"

"I suppose this means that you want her on the team, then?" Thor queried. Tony shrugged.

"I didn't know the kid was one of us. Otherwise-"

"She is NOT one of us."

"Not yet."

"The United Nations will not sit still for this, Stark. Our agreement was-" Susan retorted, exasperated that they were not listening to her.

"Who cares what the United Nations-"

"HEY!"

The bickering pair turned towards the newscast to see the picture of what appeared to be a giant robot stomping through the streets of Austin, Texas. Simultaneously, their system sirens went off. As the Avengers loaded into their transport, it was mutually agreed that the topic of Kristen Metz would be discussed later.

But not much later.

-ssSss-

Kristen strolled outside of the massive complex, her scarf blowing in the gentle breeze. Spring was late this year, and as she checked to make sure that nobody was watching, she involuntary shivered. She was then airborne, heading North, to her home in Virginia, when her watch beeped. She checked her live feed of global crime to find what appeared to be a giant robot causing trouble in Texas. Without thinking, she altered her course, made the necessary mental calculations, and broke the sound barrier for not the first time in her life.

Upon arrival, Kristen thanked her lucky stars for her position behind the robot. With a quick check of the skies for impending aid, and finding none, she took matters into her own hands. Ducking behind a corner, she focused on its internal components. Luckily, Kristen did not need outside help to inflict _pain_ on someone…

The robot stopped its trancelike progression as what was assumed to be its main control point clattered to the street. A spray of machinegun fire, however, proved this assumption false. Kristen pulled an injured civilian behind the same corner. The woman was crying out in pain, clawing at the bullet wound in her back. Kristen had long ago set her priorities straight, and healing innocent wounded took the front seat. She placed her hands near the entry point, and focused her power. She now held a complete bullet in her palm, and the woman looked up at her with a stunned expression.

"Wh-Who are you?" she stammered.

Kristen smiled. "A friend."

With that, she leapt around the corner, flipping over a clothing store's sale table for close cover. Focusing her power again, she maneuvered the through the driver's main artery which fed into his left leg, and released the pain she had taken out of the woman. There was a howl of anguish, but the robot lumbered on. Deciding to move things along, Kristen focused on the inner workings of the machine, the same way she had done with the woman's internal organs. She was met by a maze of red and blue wires with one green wire. With a quick mental yank on the latter, the defensive systems became obsolete. Now was her chance.

Kristen sprinted towards the hulking mass of metal, still holding the bullet. As the hatch opened, she coasted inside and lunged at the man hunched over the controls, who reached for his holstered Glock. Wanting to incapacitate the man, she snapped his forearm with little concentration. The diminutive man howled again in pain. Grabbing his other arm and jabbing the bullet into what looked like the hydraulic system, Kristen flew out of the robot and behind the makeshift cover. The oversized toy exploded brilliantly, sending shrapnel everywhere.

Kristen begrudgingly healed the man's broken arm to avoid cruelty charges, and used the leather handle from her purse to fasten his wrists together. He had not said a word, and Kristen began to wonder if he was drugged. As she led the man into the sunlight, a large craft descended, followed by news helicopters. The first Avenger to exit was Iron Man, who sounded surprised at the sight he was greeted with.

"Kristen? What-"

"You will find the robot you came for in tiny pieces littered around this street and the next. John Doe here was inside. Now if you will excuse me, I have injured civilians to heal."

Kristen turned and sprinted to the nearest shrapnel case, moving from person to person, all of them stunned by what they had just witnessed. Inside his suit, Tony Stark smiled in spite of himself.

"My name isn't John."

Tony turned in surprise to the little man in leather purse handcuffs beside him. The man's grey eyes burned with cold fire.

"Let it be known that it is I, Hans Dennis, and my mechanical friend Zobo, who wreaked havoc on your pathetic city today! Hahahahahahahahaha –cough."

Tony shook his mechanical head. The guy was clearly nuts.

The WEN (World Events Now) reporters lucky enough to be in the area at the time were, and had been, recording anything and everything that transpired, and were interviewing the people who had been hit by shrapnel, and then miraculously healed. It was once again loud in the streets. Twice news crews had tried to question Kristen, and twice she had narrowly avoided it. As they approached for the third time, she knew she would not be so lucky, as there were no more injured civilians to tend to.

Upon their arrival, the Avengers found the situation relatively under control. It seemed that their presence was merely needed to deal with the incriminated man and the ensuing media circus. They continually dodged questions about Kristen, saying she was a "good guy" and an employee at Stark International, but not giving away her name. Susan had insisted on getting the girl's permission before she was an identified viral hero. However, it was only a matter of time before the big question came up.

A reporter who introduced herself as Ruby Shane shoved a microphone in Nova's face. Ruby had had experience with Nova, and knew that he was the weak link in the chain of the Avenger's secrets. She batted her baby blues at the super powered college boy and asked the question "on everybody's mind":

"So, who is this super girl? Is she a part of the Avengers? Or is she a threat to the families watching at home?"

"Kristen? A threat?" Richard Rider mentally smacked himself for leaking her name, but knew that he could not take it back. "Um… no. No way. I mean, yeah she can fly, but her main power is to _heal_. I mean, how many bad guys do you know that actually heal people? I mean-"

The Black Widow saw Nova's struggle and decided to take advantage of the situation. She grabbed Kristen by the arm and cut in on his screen time.

"What Nova here means to say is, YES. World, meet Kristen Metz, the newest addition to the Avengers. But you would know her as…." Natasha's mind was racing, trying to think of an appropriate name that fit with flight, brains, and most importantly, _healing_.

"MEDIC."

The group turned, surprised, at the voice of Captain America, who had previously been conversing with the Invisible Woman. Susan Storm walked up to Kristen, a challenge in her eyes. Kristen's gaze of green flame returned it evenly. A hand was extended and shook. A small smile was shared between the two women.

"Welcome to the Avengers, Kristen Metz a.k.a. Medic. We are honored to have you."

_**R&R please!**_


End file.
